When are the votes getting counted for Orchidland?

[rainyjim]

I pay my property taxes to the state of Hawaii. Their office is in washington state. Go figure.

I mail them a written check - it must be mailed to washington state.

There are no county property taxes. You don't know what you speak of.


As for sun rise ridge - hilo. The other districts are currently being subsidized by the puna district's "tax - mines" i.e. subdivisions.

You can just keep on in your bubble of reality though. Let us know how paying the county property taxes and paying 200k just for a lot in hilo works out for you.

[kalakoa]

subdivision above Hilo ... has lots starting at $175,000.00 - just for the lot

First three rules of real estate: location, location, location.

I would wager that half that cost is for the "full services", and the other half is for "being in Hilo". A comparison to HSRE might be more "apples-to-apples".

[Punaperson]

rainyjim " I pay my property taxes to the state of Hawaii....There are no county property taxes. "

Please look at your bill. It is issued by the County of Hawaii, Real Property Tax Division.

If you go to pay in person rather than mailing it in, you have to go to the County Building, not the State Offices.

If you want to look on-line for info on your lot, you go to the County's web site, not the State's.

It is the County that auctions off properties for unpaid back taxes, not the State.

Each county / island sets their own assessments and rates, which vary considerably. County property taxes fund the County government: salaries for County employees, maintenance for County facilities ( parks, pools, etc. ) and on and on.

[kalakoa]

If you go to pay in person rather than mailing it in...

You keep a local person gainfully employed, and you get a receipt for your payment.

The outfit in Washington may have been "lowest bidder", but only if you disregard the indirect costs of delegating the employment to a foreign State -- considering that Washington already has both the Microsoft and taxes for recreational marijuana, I really doubt they're hurting for revenue.

Drivers' license renewal reminders are apparently sent from San Diego, so I guess we don't need those jobs to be local either.

[unknownjulie]

I just got the letter with the actual vote tally. It was not a landslide, but the majority did not want to improve/pay more.

$300/yr for 5 yrs- 137 yes, 225 no
$150/yr for 5yrs- 166 yes, 222 no

There is hope. If more people leave the "dark side" and decide to improve things- then the next referendum will pass.

I got bogged down in the rest of the letter and have not studied it yet, but when I do, I'm sure I'll have something to add.

[KeaauRich]

I think part of the problem was the way the question was worded. Someone who voted "yes" to $300 but "no" to $150 (because they favored $300) effectively cast a vote for $85.

Rather than giving a yes/no choice for each level, they should have listed the levels ($85, $150 and $300)and had voters select their single highest preferred level. That way, whichever level got the highest number of votes would have won, since anyone voting for $300 would also be willing to pay less than $300.

Also, rather than proposing rate increases that have an expiration date (automatically reverting back to the previous rate), they should word the resolution to create a new base rate, and then require a review of the mandatory fee at least every X number of years.

[Punaperson]

unknownjulie "If more people leave the "dark side" and decide to improve things..."


The ' dark side ' ? Old timers that I know moved to Puna for the peace and quiet, the joy of so much natural beauty, and the solitude of not too many people. Perhaps your idea of trying to 'improve' things is not shared by all.

[terracore]

quote:

---

Originally posted by unknownjulie

I just got the letter with the actual vote tally. It was not a landslide, but the majority did not want to improve/pay more.

$300/yr for 5 yrs- 137 yes, 225 no
$150/yr for 5yrs- 166 yes, 222 no

---

I stand corrected. The standard definition of winning by a landslide is winning by a margin of 15% or greater. The $300/year option lost by a 24.31% margin but the $150 option only lost by a 14.43% margin. So you are correct, one of the tallies was not a landslide by 0.57%.

[kalakoa]

I'm still wondering why only 388 votes. Isn't that like less than 10% of the lots?

[kimo wires]

I heard from a friend that also owns property in Orchidland, who is pretty well connected, that the vote has effectively eliminated any mandatory road maintenance fees. And that the BOD has just stated that the fees then revert back to the 85$ in hopes that property owners will still pay . And because the BOD is considering going into receivership the fees will revert to 0$ until there is clarification on this. It's a mess. I wonder what will happen to my money now if I continue to pay ?